My Hewlitt-Packard Nightmare
On 9/11/10 I purchased a Compaq Presario computer on clearance for $299 plus sales tax from a local Staples store. My old Compaq computer had died after 8 years and some upgrades, and, since I also have an old HP printer that's still kicking, I figured I'd stay brand loyal. I was laid off in 12/08 and am employed part-time and doing freelance when I can, so money is very tight.
On around 9/21 I noticed that the computer began performing irregularly. After doing whatever troubleshooting I knew to do, monitoring the situation and establishing that the error was recurring in a pattern, I called tech support and reached India on 9/24.
Over the next 3-5 frustrating days I ended up speaking with 9 different people in India, including two supervisors. Each person made the situation worse by trying to undo what the previous person had done. Not one person had been able to fix the original problem, which continued to recur. Even restoring the computer to its original settings didn't help. I finally insisted on a new machine and speaking with only one person, and was connected to a Sr. Case Manager in Ontario, Canada. I also called the Executive Offices in California and spoke with an Executive Customer Relations Manager to complain. By the way, I have the names of everyone I've spoken with. Also, Staple's return policy is 14 days, so I couldn't return the machine by the time I realized that it was defective--the tech service reps kept telling me that the diagnostics they were doing with the machine indicated that it was ok.
The Sr. Case Manager in Canada told me that I would have to send the machine in for repair. HP would pay for the shipping in both directions. They collected the machine shipped it to Indiana from New Jersey, and approximately 6 business days later, it came back. The Case Manager did follow up. I was told the hard drive was replaced. However, the computer had not been kept long enough in repairs to be monitored sufficiently, and upon plugging it in, the exact same problem occurred.
I called my Case Manager back and she told me she'd have the machine picked up again. I again insisted upon a new machine and was told no. I called the Executive Customer Relations fellow and he told me that the policy was that a machine had to be in repairs 3 times before it could be declared defective. I begged him to override this policy and after some convincing, he agreed if I would agree to one more repair attempt. What could I do?
The computer was once again picked up and shipped off to Indiana. Once again around 5-7 business days later on 10/21, it was redelivered, and I was told this time the motherboard was replaced. The report says that the error was not duplicated.
As soon as I hooked up the computer and plugged it in today on 10/22, I got an error message, restarted the computer and attempted to set it up. It crashed again before I even got to the desktop. I called the Case Manager, and she told me I'd have to have it repaired again. I reminded her of what the Executive Consumer Relations guy had said and she told me that it was unprecedented and she would have to "research my options." She would get back to me on Tuesday because Monday she would have to deal with other customers who call in over the weekend and it wouldn't be fair to leave them hanging. I called the gentleman in Executive Customer Relations, and he told me that he would indeed honor his word, take over my case, and "buy back my computer" for the amount I paid, which was $299, plus tax. I would just have to show my proof of purchase. Yay!!!! My nightmare would come to an end!
But here's the punchline. They won't issue me a check. They will ONLY give me a "gift card" to HP.com. There is only one machine on HP.com for $299. My machine had a 2.7 MHz processor, 3GB of RAM and a 500GB Hard Drive. The first machine that meets those specs is over $400. All machines under $400 have from 1.8-2.7 MHz processors, 2GB RAM and 320 GB Hard Drives. I would be getting a lesser machine for my money. How is that fair? There are only 3 Compaq machines listed on their site. None of them meet the specs of my machine. It's obvious that Compaq is being phased out. The guy didn't dispute this when I pointed it out upon calling him back and letting him know that there weren't any machines that were in my price range of comparable specs. He wouldn't budge. No refund by check. I should be lucky that they're agreeing to buy back the machine after "only" two repair attempts. I remind you that I've only had the machine for 2 weeks and 2 days.
I'm trying to run a small business out of my home. Think of all the time I've spent on this issue. Think of all the time and money HP has spent in tech support, Fedex shipping, technical repairs and customer support. How can they possibly stay in business with inferior products, horrendous customer satisfaction policies and a customers don't matter attitude? I just wanted a replacement computer, and if not, just my money back, and HP is even making THAT difficult.
Do I have any recourse?
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